"Why else would Alison Krauss have twenty-six awards, more than any other female artist in history? Krauss is certainly capable of being an affecting singer, but she hasn’t inspired any sea changes. If Grammys reflected sales, then Mariah Carey would have ninety, and if the Grammys reflected influence, Alanis Morissette and Lauryn Hill would each have thirty. The Grammy goes to the middleman (who records a lot, let it be noted in Krauss’s defense), who doesn’t scare off a voting population that skews old."

Sasha Frere-Jones’ Grammy Formula